shadow of britain

Chapter 645: Hugh Te was enlightened when he heard the words of the Lord.
The house that Prince Golitsyn prepared for Arthur was a typical old-style Russian mansion, located on the wide Tverskaya Avenue, with a standard huge porch and wide steps, surrounded by tall trees, the trunks of which were covered with frost, sparkling silver under the light.

Although Arthur's detached house near London's Hyde Park and his residence in Göttingen could be called mansions, they pale in comparison to this house.

The spacious and bright lobby is paved with black and white marble tiles. In the center is an old round table with a few fashion magazines and business cards left by visitors. Along the sides are some exquisite porcelain vases filled with fresh flowers, exuding a faint fragrance.

From here you can access various rooms: on the left is a gorgeously decorated living room, with wallpaper printed with exquisite patterns on the walls, and furniture mostly made of mahogany, with a surface as smooth as a mirror. The sofa is covered with soft silk cushions, with bright colors but still elegant.

There is a huge oil painting hanging on the ceiling. The angel in the painting seems to be smiling at everyone who enters the room.

The long table in the restaurant is large enough to accommodate more than twenty guests dining at the same time.

The dining table was surrounded by gilded chairs, each with the Golitsyn family crest embroidered on its back. A huge mirror hung on the wall, reflecting the entire room and making the space seem even more open and bright.

Walking through the corridor, you can also see a study room, where books are neatly arranged on the bookshelf, ranging from classical literature to the latest scientific works. The order in which the books are arranged shows how much the host values ​​the visiting guests, because the most prominent books on the bookshelf are the masterpiece "The Hastings Mysteries" by the famous British novelist Arthur Sigmar and the "Annals of the Royal Society of Natural Philosophy" which records Sir Arthur Hastings's important discovery of electromagnetism.

Hugh took off his hat and handed his coat to the attentive butler. With a slight movement of his nose, he could smell the unique smell of paper and leather in the room, which was the smell of knowledge, history and luxury.

Arthur, wearing only a white shirt, sat in an armchair by the fireplace in the study. Next to him was a bronze table lamp. The light was soft and not glaring, which further highlighted the playful and charming smile of the knight.

Although Hugh had known Arthur's identity for a long time, he still felt as if he were in another world when he saw with his own eyes that this knight who had been trapped in Druisk and pretended to be a Tsarist official had actually transformed himself into a British celebrity who attracted the attention of Moscow's upper class in just one day.

Same person, same face, but with different temperaments and, of course, different IDs.

Just by changing clothes and changing the city, even without saying a word, Hughie could feel the usual, oppressive feeling of superiority emanating from Arthur.

Hugh didn't know what to say for a moment. He was not good at dealing with such occasions. In front of Arthur, he even felt embarrassed and uneasy.

Fortunately, Arthur was not the kind of person who would intentionally make things difficult for others. He waved his hand and asked the servant to bring the samovar to Hugh, then started talking first.

"Have you finished your work? I heard that the road to Siberia is not easy to take when escorting prisoners. You must have suffered a lot on the way, right?"

Hugh took a sip of hot tea and his cold body felt warmer. Besides, talking about work was one of the few topics he could talk about for a few more words.

Huette nodded gently and said, "Traveling far in this season, especially to Siberia on an urgent errand, is really a living hell. The roads are terrible, with black, bumpy roads all along the way, and piles of rocks and soil like small hills rising from the low snow on both sides. The horse's hooves keep slipping, and your car has to move slowly step by step. In some places, you will encounter ice holes that are like traps. If you fall into them accidentally, you can stay there for several hours, or even longer."

Arthur has always been interested in Siberia. He asked: "So what should we do in times like this?"

"Then we have to send people to the nearby villages and hire some. Then we have to wait for the villagers to come and pull your car out, or to be more precise, carry it to the other side of the big puddle that blocks the road. When we are unlucky, we can only walk forty miles a day at most, but our legs filled with lead feel as heavy as if we have walked a hundred and fifty miles."

Huett put down his teacup and sighed, "At times like this, seeing the post station standing alone behind a few trees on the road is like seeing a blessed place. Although I have only traveled about 40 or 50 miles by car, I feel groggy, my head is numb, and I have no strength in my body. Therefore, being able to drink a sip of the simple samovar prepared by the post station, eat a few bites of the cold dishes on the table that have turned black due to being left for too long, and then lie on the folding iron bed that has been built for you is like being blessed by God."

Arthur couldn't help but sympathize when he heard this: "This is indeed a bad job. Do you often take on this kind of work?"

Huette blew hot air into his palms: "I can't help it. I'm a foreigner, I don't have any roots in Russia, and I don't have any special strengths. I can only rely on these hard labors to show off in front of my superiors."

At this point, Huett suddenly changed the subject and expressed his sincere gratitude: "Sir, thank you very much for your help in handling my useless brother."

"Hmm?" Arthur smiled and added some honey and milk to the teacup. "Has he started working at Scotland Yard? Tony and Tom are quite efficient. How is it? How does it feel to be a police officer for the first time?"

When Hugh thought of the letter his brother had sent him, he couldn't help but curse: "He wanted to resign on the third day of work, complaining that the work was too tiring and too hard, and he didn't want to be in the front-line patrol team. This bastard just doesn't have perseverance in doing things. I wrote back to scold him at the time. But later, Inspector Ledley King of the Police Intelligence Bureau seemed to have persuaded him and assigned him an easier job. And the new department he joined seems to have a higher salary than the front-line patrol."

"It seems that Radley has taken him to the Police Intelligence Bureau."

"Police Intelligence? You mean, the kind where you go undercover in gangs?"

Arthur waved his hand and said, "He's still a rookie. Ledley won't assign him such a dangerous job. And I wrote to him to remind him, so he'll probably be assigned some simple tracking missions, like getting close to the public coachmen walking around the streets."

When Hueth heard this, he finally felt relieved.

He didn't want his brother to continue hanging out with the gangsters, but he had no choice because the boy just couldn't stand loneliness.

As far as arranging a way out for his brother is concerned, Arthur has really done his best.

You know, a big shot like him rarely takes care of such trivial matters personally.

Huett himself felt a little embarrassed that the Jazz had the nerve to do this kind of work.

He immediately stood up and said, "What happens next is entirely up to him. If he can continue to do it, then he can continue to do it. If he even ignores such a generous treatment, then I can't ask him about anything."

After saying that, Huett did not forget to report to Arthur about his finishing work in Druisk: "Regarding the issue of the 'reasonable curve', Colonel Shubinsky and I have already filed and sealed the relevant documents. The archives are currently in good condition and have a very high safety factor."

Arthur took a sip of tea without much concern: "How high?"

Hugh replied seriously, "It's so high that even our own people can't find it." "Hmm... it sounds very reliable indeed." Arthur put down his teacup and asked, "Did Druisk cause any trouble afterwards?"

"There was a little disturbance, but it was dealt with quickly."

Huett replied, "We subsequently sent a few trusted colleagues to revisit Druisk and launched an internal investigation by the Third Bureau into the suspected corruption of a Second District Military Police Colonel. According to the investigation report, local officials, both big and small, denied that they had ever had any deep dealings with him, and some even denied that they had ever met with Hastingoff in private."

"It's a pity," Arthur said with regret, "This colonel clearly had a bright future, but because of some minor omissions, he ruined his bright future."

Huett said seriously, "Sir, you have to believe that the Third Bureau has always maintained a high-pressure supervision posture against such internal corruption. We will never wrongly accuse a good person, but we will not let any corrupt element go. In Russia, we don't call the capture of a corrupt element regrettable. On the contrary, we call it integrity and efficiency."

At this point, Huette paused for a moment and said, "As for the problem of you being robbed on the road, we have submitted the investigation report to the headquarters of the Third Bureau in St. Petersburg. After combining the list of lost items submitted by the British Embassy, ​​I believe that Count Benckendorff will carefully assess your losses and give you justice as soon as possible in order to maintain the tone of British-Russian friendship. By the way, your case was handled very efficiently. I believe that after Maslenitsa, someone will contact you to compensate you at the price."

Secretary Blackwell was listening in a daze, biting his pen. He was confused and could understand most of the conversation, but he didn't know what it meant.

Moreover, for some reason, he could clearly feel that this British military police captain seemed to regard Arthur as his superior. The conversation between the two did not seem like a casual chat between friends, but rather like a work report.

Arthur was robbed on his way to take office, and he knew about it. He also helped to draw up the list of lost items and submitted it to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

But what does it mean that the Russian gendarmes intervened?
I am the secretary, why are there people rushing to do my job?

Arthur ignored his junior secretary. Compared to a guy like Blackwell who was spoiled in the diplomatic world, the old cop from Scotland Yard was obviously more in tune with the Third Bureau Military Police.

Arthur stood up and said, "Richard, in fact, even if you didn't come to see me, I would have come to see you after I arrived in Moscow. I have some news here, not very good, but out of our friendship, I think it is necessary to reveal a little to you."

"You say." Huett took out a pen from his pocket, bit off the cap and prepared to write on the paper: "I'm used to hearing bad news in my life. One or two more is nothing I can't bear."

Arthur nodded with relief, then glanced at the disappointing Blackwell and said, "Richard, if, I mean if you intend to continue to fight in Russia, you can take advantage of these few days to go to the consulate in Moscow to renew the validity of your passport. I have already informed them, and just in case, we can extend your passport for eight years at once this time."

Huett paused, "Eight...eight years? Did something happen?"

"It's hard to say at this moment if something unexpected will happen." Arthur walked with his hands behind his back, "I can only say that due to some unspeakable problems, there is a certain possibility of something unexpected happening."

Huett thought for a moment and recalled the protest letter submitted by Britain to the Tsar last month: "Are you talking about the secret agreement with the Ottoman Empire? But I remember that matter has been exposed, right?"

Arthur neither confirmed nor denied it. He asked with a smile, "Richard, what do you think diplomacy is? Diplomacy is hiding a knife behind a smiling face. A happy appearance does not mean it is really happy, and a tense appearance does not mean it is really tense. Of course, I am not saying that all diplomats are dishonest people. They are just sent abroad to deceive people for the sake of national interests."

When Huette heard this, he realized the seriousness of the problem.

Perhaps for ordinary British and Russians, the tension in Anglo-Russian relations did not have much impact on their lives, but as a British serving in Russia, his situation was actually more embarrassing than that of diplomats like Arthur and Blackwell.

After all, his identity is different from those second and third generation British immigrants. Not only did he grow up in the UK, he didn't even have Russian citizenship.

If there is a problem in the relationship between Britain and Russia, it will not be so easy for him to maintain the current situation of having the best of both worlds.

If you want to continue staying in Russia, you have to become a Russian citizen.

If he wanted to return to Britain, all his years of hard work in Russia would be wasted.

If he had not met Arthur, although Hughes would have felt conflicted, he would most likely have sided with Russia in the end.

But now, returning to Britain seems to be a better option than staying in Russia.

With his skills and resume, plus a letter of recommendation from Arthur, he would probably be able to find a job at Scotland Yard very easily.

Even though the job was not as high-ranking as that of a military police captain, it was definitely not enough to make him start from scratch.

Not to mention, going to Scotland Yard would be one of the worst options for him if he returned to England.

After returning to Moscow, Huette privately asked Colonel Shubinsky about Sir Arthur Hastings's experience in London, and asked his family to get him several London newspapers from two or three years ago.

Colonel Shubinsky's vivid story, the huge headlines in the Times, and what he saw and heard today in Prince Golitsyn's old house made him understand more clearly what the words "bright future" really meant.

What is a promising future?
Being awarded the second-class Knight of the Order of Saint Anna at the age of 25 means he has a bright future!
Huett was silent for a moment, then stood up and said, "Sir, I don't think it's necessary to renew the validity of my passport. If things really come to that, I know what's important and what's not. If you need me to, I can quit my job in the Military Police now."

Hugh thought that Arthur wanted him to have this attitude, but Arthur smiled and waved his hands repeatedly: "Don't worry, things haven't deteriorated to that point yet. And if you are determined not to stay in Russia, I promised you before that I will always keep a place for you by my side. But I think that if you join the embassy now without any qualifications, the position assigned to you may not be very high. However, if you can play a role in this crisis, I am afraid that you will not be given an ordinary second-class secretary at that time."

Hearing this, Huett frowned and said, "You... I'm just a small figure. Do you think I can play a big role?"

"Richard, don't underestimate yourself. I gave you the position not out of charity, but out of my true recognition." Arthur patted Hugh's shoulder and said, "Have you forgotten? I asked you what you were responsible for in District 2 before, and you told me that you were mainly responsible for escorting exiles. I remember that in addition to Siberia, many exiles were sent to the Caucasus, right?"

(End of this chapter)